Magical but Overlong

Rating: Null/10 (9 August 2002)

It was interesting to see the range of responses to this film. I liked the first 60 % of it, then became increasingly restless, because the director failed to sustain the often magical tone of his "fable." As some other viewers noted, the best scenes revolve around the child 1900 as he is adopted by the crew of the Virginian; the scene in which 1900 as a young man careens giddily around the ballroom, seated at his piano during a storm at sea, is also really inspired. And I also agree with those who praised the openly sentimental, over-the-top emotional expressivity of this Italian director. Plus, he shares Fellini's skill at choosing wonderful faces for momentary closeups in a crowd.
I'm not sure exactly when I began to lose interest. It may have been during the piano duel with Jelly Roll Morton. There is always a danger when a fabulist pulls in actual historical figures: the real person may have been more interesting than the screen character as presented. This is definitely the case with Morton, who was indeed a braggart and musical bully -- but also a man of enormous humor and savoir-faire. Clarence Williams III isn't given much to work with, and the whole scene reeks of one more white-guys-actually-CAN-jump moment in Hollywood films. Also, bravo to those who pointed out that the deference with which Morton is treated by passengers, barkeep, etc., is jarringly at odds with actual attitudes toward American blacks during the time -- even if you were a famous jazz musician.
Once 1900 tries to make himself leave the ship, and fails, the movie gets very tedious. The director simply cannot match the whimsy and overall imaginative quality of the preceding scenes. We get way too much of the trumpet player's rueful efforts, too much self-explanation at the very end by 1900 himself, etc. etc.
Incidentally, Tornatore has recently released a "director's cut" version of his Cinema Paradiso that adds over a half hour of time to that movie -- it's putting people to sleep in a theater near you! So maybe The Legend of 1900 would have benefitted from having a "suit" hanging around during the editing process telling him Giuseppe, you made the film too long.